Yeah, I'm still waiting for an answer for all the posters who make that comparison.

All 764 of them.

Oh, blast. I hit the +1 instead of the reply. Ok, next time you say something cool, I won't plus you. Knowing you, I shouldn't have to wait long.

Anyway...I can only speak for myself on this, but where I'm seeing the comparison is in the attitude of people around here.

In 2008 we had a top pairing of Lilja and Lebda. We were missing Hasek, Cleary, Lids, Raffy, Kronner, and Cheli. We didn't yet have Stuart. We had Garret Stafford. 'Nuf said.

We lost 10 of 11 games. We were at the top of the heap before that. People panicked. Hair was torn out. People gave up and whined and wailed.

Fast forward to today. We were at the top. We had a herd of injuries. We've missed Howard, Pavel, Bert, Lids, Eaves, Jonny, and now possibly Joey and Mule. We are losing games. Cue the panic, hair tearing, whining, and wailing.

There are a lot of differences between the two seasons. I'd say more differences than similarities, but the similarities are there. We're not tearing it up, especially not on the PP this year, but we did have a nice little win streak going.

So there are some comparisons, and since 2008 ended up groovy enough, we hope that the similarities continue.

There's your answer. I'm sure you'll rip it to shreds. You have a good enough memory and you're knowledgeable enough that you've already made these connections and you're just challenging people to come out and say that the similarity is that we've had injuries and falsely come to the conclusion that since we had injuries then and won a Cup that injuries mean that we will win a Cup.

But I think that the people making the comparisons are doing it less because they think that we are assured of a win, and more to challenge the whiners and nay-sayers who think that because we're in 4th place, we are doomed to miss the playoffs, and it will be the '80s all over again.

In other words, people are making the comparison to a Cup-winning team to prove that winning a Cup despite injuries has happened, not to predict that it will happen again. Why? Because it's so much more polite than saying, "Shut the f*** up." every time someone wrings their hands and waves their hanky.

So why does the PA not like the idea? From what I've heard fans and owners love it

That is probably the reason right there.

Owners love it. It gives them something to shovel into the collective anus of the league during "negotiations" this summer.

Anything that they can come up with that will hold back progress will be used to get what they want, and the guys who actually sign the paychecks and give them their contracts will have to bend over or lose another season.